


Mismatch

by Arel_Rhink



Category: Rhett & Link, rhink - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 00:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7292593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arel_Rhink/pseuds/Arel_Rhink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Link goes on his first date with a guy he was “matched” with, but it doesn’t go as he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mismatch

Link fiddled his thumbs as the agent clicked away at her computer. He wasn’t usually one to go to a ‘matchmaker’, but he was tired of his family nagging him on finding a potential spouse, and he figured why trust fake online personas when he could just ask a professional. He answered all the agent’s questions, and now he was just waiting for results.

“Well, sir, we don’t have that many… uh… homosexual males in our system, but there’s… one here that meets some of your standards and preferences.”

Link perked up at the good news, but there was something in her tone that made him feel uneasy. “Which standards?” he asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“He’s… around your age, blond, and… well, gay,” she answered. She didn’t seem very enthusiastic about his pairing, and it kind of rubbed Link the wrong way. But he really wanted to get back into the dating scene, and he could at least try to meet the guy and get a better impression of him. Who knows? Maybe they had more in common than was documented.

Link shrugged. “Well, I could meet him I guess… If it doesn’t go well, I can just move on and try again, right?”

The agent nodded in return. “According to his profile, he’s available any day of the week. When’s a good time for you?”

“I think… this Friday at seven should be good. Maybe for dinner at like Applebee’s or something,” Link answered, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

“Sounds good. We’ll contact him and hope your date goes well.”

Before he knew it, it was Friday. Link had been at the restaurant for a while and his date still hadn’t shown up. He checked his phone and sighed. He already shooed the waiter twice, telling him he’ll order when his date arrives. His patience was diminishing rapidly, and he was starting to regret not asking for a glass of wine or something to calm him down some. Out of complete boredom, his eyes scavenged the place. He admired the movie themed décor, and started watching families and couples eat their meals.

“Waitin’ on someone, aren’t ya?” asked a nearby voice. Link’s head snapped in the direction opposite of where he was looking before to find a strapping man alone at a table beside him. He was around average-built, and had long lean legs folded under his seat. The man shot him a charming smile framed by a neatly trimmed beard. Link spotted the dirty blond hair that stood meticulously on his head, making him seem even taller.

“Yeah,” Link answered. “He was supposed to be here like twenty minutes ago.” He sighed to himself before looking at the other man’s hair again. “Your name isn’t Jerry by any chance is it?” Link’s eyes held a glimmer of hope at the idea of this attractive man being his long awaited date.

“Nope,” he answered, chuckling slightly. “Name’s Rhett.” The man extended his hand out to meet Link’s. Link was quite impressed with the stranger’s long reach, but was unhappy with his answer.

“Link,” the brunet replied, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. The man released Link’s hand and took another sip of his drink. “So… are you waiting for someone too?”

“Nah,” Rhett answered, putting his glass down on the table. “I just like spending my time here. The waiters are friendly. They serve really good ribs. Comfortable environment.”

Link skimmed the décor once more. “Yeah, I guess it is a pretty comfy setting.”

Out of the corner of Link’s eye, a host led a young man to his table before wandering off to fetch the waiter. Both Rhett and Link turned to the new arrival. He was short, maybe a few inches above five feet. His greasy, blondish hair was tousled and pointed out in all directions, as if he tried making it nice but gave up. He was wearing a grimy tee that was a size or two too big, and sweatpants that rose a little high on his legs.

“So you’re Link?” he asked, keeping a dull expression on his face. His accusatory tone confused Link, but he brushed it aside and held his hand out to his date.

“You must be Jerry!” The other man stared at Link’s hand and shrugged at it with a cringe. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t hold hands on the first date,” Jerry replied with an unappealing nasal tone. “My mom says I shouldn’t touch anyone until they’ve been checked for diseases.” Rhett at the other table snorted lightly as he lifted his drink to his lips.

Link tried to remain polite for his date and retracted his hand with an awkward laugh. “Oh… uh… okay… So, what do you do for a living, Jerry?”

The blond across the table from him sighed and wiped his nose with the side of his hand. “I like collecting stray socks… You know, like the ones you can’t find a match for when you do the laundry.”

Jerry kept going on about his sock collection, which bored the living daylight out of Link. He couldn’t believe how strange and dreary his supposed ‘match’ was. He caught himself staring vacantly into space when the waiter showed up to take their orders. Link was quick to make his order, but Jerry, on the other hand, changed his mind so many times before finally settling for “like… a steak or something…”

As soon as the waiter left, Jerry went back to talking about random things and his indifferent or negative thoughts about them. The man seemed to have no positive opinions on anything and Link wondered if he was even remotely interested in him or this date anyway. Every once in a while, Link’s attention would go back to Rhett, who seemed to be quite amused with the things Jerry was saying. Link smiled at the tiny chuckles the man let out as he continued sipping his drink and reading the book he apparently had brought with him. He blushed when Rhett caught him staring. His big, jade eyes seemed to sparkle. Rhett raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to Jerry. Link snapped out of it and refocused on his date.

“Sorry, uh… could you repeat that?” Link asked, blushing furiously out of embarrassment. He shouldn’t have been ogling another guy while he was out with someone else.  
Luckily, Jerry didn’t seem to mind repeating himself. “Have you ever… you know, been with other guys before?” Before Link could answer, Jerry added on, “Like do you have… experience?”

“What?”

“You seem very virgin to me, and I’m just trying to see if my assumptions are correct.” Jerry’s comment threw Link off, and Rhett at the other table tried his best to stifle his laughter.

“Ah… Well… I guess if we’re gonna be honest here, I’ve uh… been with a couple guys before, but it’s been a while,” Link answered, flicking his eyes in Rhett’s direction to see how he’d react. Apparently, the man was too busy still laughing at the question he didn’t notice Link already gave his answer.

“Oh okay, so are you more of a top or bottom then?”

“I’m sorry, this is making me uncomfortable,” Link responded, hoping the subject would change to something more appropriate for a public first date. However, Jerry seemed fixated on this topic and continued ranting about it, making Link’s discomfort increase rapidly. To distance himself from the awkward topic, Link dazed off again, finding comfort looking in Rhett’s direction. He was quick to admit to himself that the man was quite attractive, and his taste in fashion also impressed him. His dark jeans were quite flattering for his long, lean legs, and his Henley hugged him in all the right places. His eyes traveled higher. Every nerve in his body jolted at the sight of Rhett making direct eye contact with him. Shivers crawled throughout Link’s body. He couldn’t look away, now that this man obviously knew he was being stared at.

Suddenly, the waiter returned with their food. His arrival startled Link back to reality, and his food looked delicious. He was glad to have something else distract him from everything that was going on around him. The brunet happily preoccupied himself with his food, maybe engorging it a little too hastily. His food was done way before Jerry’s. The other man took a large bite from his burger, and then suddenly doubled over with a groan.

“Oh gosh, are you okay?!” Link asked, dropping his silverware on the table at the shocking sight.

“I… ah… need to use the bathroom… red meat doesn’t like me…” Jerry whimpered, launching himself out of his seat and running off at full speed. Link watched with a pang of guilt. It wasn’t his fault of course, but he just couldn’t help but feel bad. He sighed heavily, playing with the scraps on his plate with his fork.

“Your, uh, date seems quite the catch,” Rhett commented, finishing what was left of his drink. “Where’d you dig him up?”

“Believe it or not, a matchmaking service set us up,” Link answered half-heartedly. He was practically ready to go home at this point, but he was better than being the type to ditch a date, regardless of how horrible it was.

“A matchmaking service??” Rhett remarked with a laugh. “What’s wrong with like Tinder or Match-dot-com?”

“I don’t like the idea of fake profiles and unsolicited dick pics,” Link replied, cocking an eyebrow up with a hint of sass.

“Haha… Ain’t that the truth... Though maybe a Tinder date would’ve gone better than this one. I could tell from a mile away that you weren’t having a good time.”

“Yeah, but you were sure enjoying yourself… being a little eavesdropper.”

“Dude… I can’t believe how ridiculous that guy is. He talked about his socks for like twenty minutes… and DANG does he get to the direct stuff quick,” Rhett laughed. Link blushed furiously at that little reminder, and Rhett stopped laughing when he realized Link truly was uncomfortable about that subject. It was pretty inappropriate for a first date, let alone for small talk with a stranger at a restaurant. “I… I’m mostly just sorry that the service couldn’t match you with someone better for you. Jerry doesn’t deserve you.”

Link’s nerves knotted at that statement. The two grew suddenly quiet.

Rhett coughed to fill the silence. He clearly had thoughts he wanted to express, but he seemed to have some trouble getting them out. He eventually spoke up. “What, uh… what matches did you two have… if you, uh… don’t mind me asking?” His fingers lightly tapped the table.

“Well, I don’t know what his standards are… but for me… he’s about my age, blond, and gay,” Link answered, avoiding eye contact with the other man. Rhett pensively ran his fingers through his blondish hair and gave the other man a quick once-over.

“What are your other standards, if I may ask?”

Link looked back up to meet Rhett’s gaze. He blinked in surprise at the charismatic smirk on the blond’s face. “Um… well, I… I dunno… I like singing, entertaining, and being creative, so I’d like someone who’d also be into that I guess.” Rhett perked up, and then asked Link to continue. He rested his chin on his palm, listening attentively to the brunet. “I… I’m also kind of a picky eater and not really good around a kitchen, so I like the idea of being with someone who could, you know, help me learn to try new foods and… maybe teach me to cook like he can…” Link paused and blushed when he saw how attentive the other man was. He couldn’t believe just a simple act from this beautiful man was enough to make himself blush so much. “I, uh… I know it’s hard for someone like me to come by… but I… I like the idea of being the shorter one in a relationship… I dunno…”

“Oh really?” Rhett asked, grinning with widened eyes.

Before he could say anything more, Jerry returned to Link’s table. He looked exhausted, like he just had his life drained from his body. Link fixed his attention back on his date, and felt really worried for the smaller man.

“Are you all right?” Link asked. Jerry cringed and stared back at his unfinished meal with a grimace of regret.

“Sorry… I… I should be okay. I called my mom to pick me up, and she’ll be here any minute now,” he mumbled, holding his belly as if it was going to fall off his body. “Also… I… don’t have any money on me. Could you… you know, cover the bill?”

Link closed his eyes in sheer annoyance at this sudden inconvenience. He looked at the huge, unfinished mess Jerry dared to call a burger and remembered all the extra things he added onto the meal that he now had to pay for. He really wanted to reprimand his date for not bringing any cash at all to a restaurant date, expecting that he would be willing to pay for him, but he tried his hardest not to make a scene.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Both heads turned to the table beside them to see Rhett smiling at them.

“No, no, please. You don’t have to do that,” Link pleaded, standing to move closer to Rhett’s table.

“I insist,” Rhett spoke louder, gesturing for the waiter. Right as Link was about to persist again, Rhett interrupted. “That way, you can return the favor when we go out for a dinner date.”

Link’s jaw dropped open, shocked that this man blatantly asked him out… and in front of Jerry! Link stuttered, completely tongue-tied at the heart eyes Rhett mercilessly gave him.

“Jerry left, by the way. He said his mom arrived so he ran off,” Rhett notified with a slight giggle. Link’s head snapped to where Jerry was last standing to find him absolutely nowhere in sight. “You’re not a very good listener, are you?” The blond smirked knowingly at the flustered brunet.

“Hey! You distracted me!” Link retorted. His face turned completely red at the hearty chuckle Rhett made.

“Well, you’re quite the looker yourself.” The cheeky blond waggled his eyebrows at the blushing brunet as the waiter arrived with both his and Link’s table’s bill. He quickly totaled the bills and gave the cash to the waiter. “Well, Link… It was a pleasure to meet you tonight…” Rhett calmly arose from his seat, towering over the already pretty tall Link by a good seven inches or so. Link’s eyes widened in surprise as the giant moved closer to him, extending his hand towards him. Link’s shaky hand took Rhett’s, fitting surprisingly well with each other. “… and I look forward to meeting you again for our date,” Rhett added. The sudden low rasp in his voice made Link shiver where he stood.

The larger man slipped something into the other man’s hand before their handshake was released. Link took a better look at it to see a torn corner from what felt like a receipt. It had seven numbers and the name ‘Rhett McLaughlin’ scrawled onto it with pen.

“I… I’ll… call you with the details then!” Link said, smiling excitedly at the taller man.

“It’s a date,” Rhett replied, winking at the other man before heading out of the restaurant. Link stood frozen where he stood, exhilaration filling him immensely as he grinned at the paper scrap in his hands. This night hadn’t turned for the worst after all.


End file.
